History Commons Projects, Update on May 7, 2009

PublishedMay 7, 2009

The busiest project this week was the Civil Liberties Timeline, which has expanded
its chapter on the PROMIS application, reportedly the granddaddy of today’s
government surveillance software. Claims that the software was distributed to
other countries have been disputed, but a 1992 Congressional investigation found
two Justice Department memos saying a version of the software was about to be
passed to Israel.Read more

In the War in Afghanistan Timeline, a contributor covers a recent statement
by UN official Philip Alston, who said that “personnel belonging to international
intelligence services” have been involved in a spate of civilian deaths
there.Read more

Contributors to the US Electoral Politics Timeline take a look at a Supreme
Court challenge to Indiana’s voter ID law and recall a 2007 Justice Department
probe that turned up “scant evidence” of voter fraud in the previous
five years.Read more

In the Economic Crisis Timeline a contributor highlights a recent statement
by the US Federal Reserve saying that the largest 19 banks will probably not
require any more bailouts.Read more

Finally, in the International Relations Timeline, former State Department Chief
of Staff Lawrence Wilkerson claims that former Vice President Dick Cheney was
manipulating the Bush administration from the outset.Read more

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